In an unprecedented appeal to America's public and
private leadership and to the American
people, leaders of organizations representing tens of
thousands of American nonprofit organizations
last week called for a reinvigorated and empowered
partnership between government and the
nonprofit "citizen sector" to address the country's social,
economic and environmental problems and
improve the quality of community life.
The nonprofit leaders issued a declaration titled
"Forward Together: Empowering America's
Citizen Sector for the Change We Need" that calls on the
nation's governments and businesses to join
with its citizen sector for a renewed "partnership in
public service."
Citing major needs from housing, to food and clothing,
to the strains on the nation's cultural
institutions and its facilities for youth, the homeless and
the aged, the nonprofit leaders said that
now is the time to act to strengthen the capacity of a
citizen sector that "shelters the homeless,
trains the unemployed, educates our youth, builds
affordable housing, counsels families, delivers
health care, gives voice to the powerless, enriches our
lives with arts and culture, and serves America
in a myriad other ways by uniquely mobilizing citizen
initiative for the common good."
The declaration highlights the economic contributions
of America's citizen sector, including its
11 million paid workers, more than those in the
construction, finance, transportation and real estate
industries. But the declaration warns that the citizen
sector will need help to play the role of which it
is capable in these tough economic times.
Signers of the declaration include citizen sector
leaders from Hawaii to Maine, representing a
broad array of nonprofit institutions from small community
development organizations to large
networks of faith-based nursing homes. An advertisement
that appears in the Feb. 26 issue of The
Chronicle of Philanthropy appeals to others to join
this call, to ensure that the citizen sector is no
longer overlooked as a crucial partner in solving the
country's deepening problems.
"The citizen sector is a powerful engine for change
with enormous potential to assist in coping
with our nation's problems, but the country is not taking
anywhere close to full advantage of these
potentials," said Lester M. Salamon, director of the Johns
Hopkins Center for Civil Society
Studies and of its Nonprofit
Listening Post Project, which organized the seminar
that generated the
declaration. "The outpouring of support for this
declaration speaks to the need many people in this
sector feel for a clear reminder of the immense
contributions nonprofit organizations are capable of
making at this critical point in our nation's history, if
they are only given the chance."
Peter Goldberg, CEO of the Alliance for Children and
Families and a leader in the development
of the declaration, said, "We must change our world view
from half empty to half full. We can
rightfully see our collapsing economy as leading to
persistent poverty, disappearing jobs, strained
families, failing schools and many other social problems.
Or, we can instead focus on what can be done
and how we can do it together. Those of us who work in the
citizen sector are ready to act, and we can
be so much more effective if we act in true partnership
with leaders in business and government."
In addition to its call to action, the declaration
outlines a set of concrete ways that nonprofits
could help with America's economic recovery, such as
utilizing the sizable network of nonprofit housing
and community development finance institutions to help
rework problem mortgages, and incentivizing
increased charitable giving. In addition, the declaration
details broader steps the country can take to
renew its compact with the citizen sector, such as
reforming government-nonprofit partnerships,
investing in citizen sector capacity and supporting new
models of nonprofit finance.
To accommodate the numerous other nonprofit leaders
and supporters across the country who
may want to be associated with this declaration, the Johns
Hopkins Listening Post Project has created
a Web site at
www.jhu.edu/listeningpost/forward where the declaration
can be viewed in its entirety
and interested persons can sign on and learn about steps
they can take to extend the reach and impact
of the document.